The Upper Situation Room

I would be fabricating if I told you I have been thinking â€œlongâ€ and â€œhardâ€ about this decision to step away from blogging for Houston Belief under the umbrella of the Houston Chronicle. It really wasnâ€™t much to consider.

In light of my last phone conversation with Kate Shellnut, by the time you finish reading this it probably will have already been removed because it will be considered â€œtoo offensiveâ€ and a â€œviolationâ€ of the so-called blogging guidelines of this site.

Letâ€™s see.

I am grateful for this entire experience. April actually marked two years since I first started blogging for this site at the invite of Ms. Shellnut. Honestly, I was surprised when I received the initial email in which she said, â€œOne of my goals is to expand the perspectives represented on HoustonBelief so that we may help our readers learn more and better understand the religious traditions here in Houstonâ€¦I found your impressive blog through one of our contributors, Pastor Rudy. I wanted to ask you if youâ€™d be interested in starting a blog on HoustonBelief.â€

My first few entries went right at some of the myths associated with the Nation of Islam and Minister Farrakhan. I was immediately and unsurprisingly attacked as a follower of a “hate teacher” and an “anti-Semite” from people leaving comments. It didn’t bother me at all, I just continued to blog.

Then in May 2010 I was invited to have an in person lunch with Ms. Shellnut. The conversation started off casual and I thought she was sincerely trying to get to know me as a new blogger. However, she eventually told me the true purpose of the meeting, which was the fact that several members of the Jewish community were pressing her and the editors of the Houston Chronicle to have me removed immediately from the site because I “hated Jews and should not be allowed to blog among dignified religious people.”

In the meeting she also asked me if I would â€œrefrainâ€ from mentioning anything about Jews until she was able to coordinate a dialogue, which she said these particular Jews disagreed with doing anyway. She also warned me to follow the site’s guidelines of not attacking people. I had my mind made up that I would continue to be myself and if they decided to remove me that was their decision. The meeting ended and she told me I would not be removed or censured in any way. In a follow up email that day she said, â€œIâ€™m going to continue to think over some possible ways to draw out discussion about the relationship between Black Americans and Jewish Americans, racism and anti-Semitism, perhaps in the month ahead. I hope that weâ€™ll be able to turn this controversy into an opportunity for interfaith education.â€

Well, that never happened because within weeks Lee Wunsch, the CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, posted an article on his blog titled â€œCompromising the Mission of Houston Beliefâ€ revealing that he was calling for my removal. Mr. Wunsch even wrote, â€œwhen a Nation of Islam member was invited to blog, a line was drawn in the sand.”

The original link to that June 6, 2010 blog is now unavailable due to them changing everyone over to a WordPress platform. However, the proof that he wrote it is found in the response written by fellow blogger Menachem Wecker, who came to my defense. Mr. Wunsch even followed it up with another blog two months later outright attacking me. His words truly didnâ€™t bother me because he was only recycling the same falsehoods that members of the Jewish community have been saying about Minister Farrakhan and the NOI since 1984.

My question was why was Mr. Wunsch allowed to violate Houston Beliefâ€™s so-called guidelines? Did Ms. Shellnut come to my defense? Absolutely not. Yet in another email to me regarding his attacks, she only said, â€œBy not addressing Leeâ€™s criticism directly, youâ€™ve allowed the community itself to defend you and rally around your blog. The entry by Menachem Wecker (the Iconia blogger) did a good job about letting people discuss both sides of the issue and, in the end, side with religious freedom rather than engaging in a debate over specifics that would probably go nowhere. My prediction is that this will blow over soon and in the end, youâ€™ll have grown more fully integrated into the Houston Belief community as a result.â€

I chose to come to this site because I believed the readers deserved to hear from someone thatâ€™s actually in the NOI. Also to dispel some of the myths and unjust labels attached to Minister Farrakhan and the NOI. Over these past two years I believe we have been blessed to accomplish that with those who had an open mind. I have learned from many comments, smiled at the onslaught of attacks, and even had many of my posts featured on the Chron.com homepage. One of my posts was once picked up by the Village Voice and this blog was a finalist for the 2011 Black Weblog Awards in the Faith category.

However, the latest actions by Ms. Shellnut let me know clearly it is time to part ways with Houston Belief.

On March 21 we had a phone conversation in which she expressed â€œcertain peopleâ€ had an issue with my blog, â€œClear and present danger? Nation of Islam responds to Glenn Beckâ€, that I posted on March 14. She said â€œsome peopleâ€ found it offensive to the Jewish community and then she started reminding me of the siteâ€™s so-called guidelines.

During the conversation, I logged into my account and noticed that she had already put that blog post back in â€œdraft modeâ€, meaning she took it down. Then I noticed that my other blog, â€œJewish Rabbi declares Bishop Eddie Long a King?â€, that I posted on Feb. 4 was also taken down. All of this was done without discussing it with me first.

Also in the conversation I pointed out to Ms. Shellnut that Mr. Wunsch attacked and lied on Minister Farrakhan and the NOI in the first paragraph of his March 20 post, â€œAnti-Semitism on the Rise: Or, Am I Just Paranoid?â€. She had nothing to say about that and that post is still on the site.

So it is with great happiness that I am writing this final post because Ms. Shellnut, the online editors of the Houston Chronicle, and those that influence them have made it very clear that this site is not about open dialogue, free speech or sincerely learning about other religions. Itâ€™s about trying to suppress certain people to please a specific group.

I want to sincerely thank them for adding further validity to what Minister Farrakhan and the NOI has said about certain members of the so-called Jewish community. Now if anyone wants to disagree after reading this blog, help yourself.

As for me, Iâ€™m going to continue to do what I was doing before Houston Belief even came into the picture: BLOG!

A group of Black men from various organizations sent a clear message to those preying on women in the Houston community: Weâ€™re not going to stand for it!

â€œWe want to raise the antenna of the community like never before about the issue of rape, abduction and sexual assault of women and girls in this city,â€ said Deric Muhammad, during a press conference on March 4 at the corner of Old Spanish Trail and Scott St in the Third Ward area.

â€œIt seems as though every day a different woman is being raped, ravaged, abducted and sexually assaulted. It seems that it is open season on women. So we want to send a clarion message to women in this city. The city of Houston and Harris County is not a safe place for you. Weâ€™re declaring that today.â€ said Muhammad, who is a member of the Nation of Islamâ€™s Ministry of Justice.

Referring to a recent cover story printed in the Houston Forward Times, Muhammad told the press that as of December 2011 the Houston Police Department has 6,663 untested rape kits sitting in cold storages. Yes, untested!

What is a rape kit? Following a sexual assault, a victim has the choice to go to the hospital to have a forensic examination. This can create the opportunity to collect any DNA that may have been left by the suspect. Once the examination is completed, the evidence is then carefully stored to avoid any form of contamination.

The testing of these kits could lead to the apprehension of suspects and even free some who may be innocent behind bars, however, Muhammad pointed out â€œthe safety of the women in this city is not the priority that it should be. Weâ€™re calling on the mayor, the police chief, the sheriff, the county commissioner, and the metro police chief. Houston has become a haven for rapists. The leadership in this city needs to do more than they are doing.â€

He was joined at the press conference by other Nation of Islam men along with representatives from the National Black United Front, Shrine of the Black Madonna, Greater Houston Justice Coalition and Operation Outreach OG1.

HPD recently released a composite sketch of a man they believe sexually assaulted a 31-year-old woman on the afternoon of Feb. 22. He allegedly boarded the same bus she did from a METRO stop, harassed her during the ride and got off with her at the 5600 block of Old Spanish Trail.

The flyer that was passed out in the streets with the composite sketch

He then followed her, struck her in the head, and eventually sexually assaulted her in a field at the 3200 block of Produce Row. This is reportedly Houstonâ€™s fourth sexual assault case this year that has occurred near a METRO bus stop.

â€œWe also want to send a message to the men in the community. It is ultimately our responsibility to protect our women and girls.â€ said Muhammad. â€œWe want to send a message to the would-be rapists and pedophiles that there are strong men in the city of Houston. Your days are numbered with this activity that you are aggressively pursuing against our women. Weâ€™re getting sick and tired of seeing our women treated the way that they have been treated.â€

At the conclusion of the press conference everyone went to the four corners of Old Spanish Trail and Scott to pass out the composite sketch of the alleged attacker.

According to police, the man is described as a Hispanic male in his late teens to early twenties, thin build, approximately 5 foot 7. He has tattoos up and down both arms and his neck, including a star tattoo on the right side of his head and a tattoo of a woman–possibly the Virgin Mary–on his right forearm.

Anyone with information on the suspectâ€™s identity is urged to contact Crime Stoppers at 713-222-8477. Tips can also be submitted online at crime-stoppers.org or via text message â€“ just text â€œTIP 610â€ plus your info to 274637. A $5,000 cash reward is available for information leading to an arrest in this case.

Respect and protect the woman.

Men sending a message to would-be rapists in Houston was last modified: July 23rd, 2015 by BJ Blog Staff

I just returned from Chicago, IL attending the Nation of Islamâ€™s annual Savioursâ€™ Day Convention. Each year we gather to celebrate the birth of Master Fard Muhammad born in Mecca, Arabia, February 26, 1877. Master Fard taught the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and we believe both of them are physically alive.

Savioursâ€™ Day is not only a time we convene to fellowship, but weâ€™re also fed valuable information that is directly related to all being better saviours of our people as written in the Book of Nehemiah. It was a full four days of plenaries and workshops covering topics such as the reality of God, the truth about 9/11, health, marriage, business, disaster preparedness, prison reform, and more. I wish I couldâ€™ve cloned myself to attend everything!

The convention is always concluded with the keynote address by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, the National Representative of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad.

This year he spoke at the United Center for nearly five hours. I had the opportunity to watch and tweet live the entire time inside the press room on the lower level.

It hasnâ€™t taken much time for the usual political pundits, bloggers, mainstream mental midgets, radio show wackos, Right Wing un-intelligentsia, and of course the so-called Jews, to make another failed attempt to critique and dismantle the arguments presented by Minister Farrakhan.

However, we must jog the memory of Mr. Foxman and Jewish scholars that itâ€™s been nearly two years since Minister Farrakhan put out a public challenge that has gone unanswered related to Volume 2 of â€œThe Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jewsâ€, produced by the NOI’s Historical Research Department. [If you donâ€™t know what Iâ€™m talking about please click here]

This is not being written in the spirit of hatred or vitriol because Minister Farrakhan doesnâ€™t train us in that manner. Iâ€™m just presenting the facts.

The other day Sean Hannity even pulled out the â€˜big gunsâ€™ by inviting Herman â€œ999 Personal Problemsâ€ Cain on his show to challenge Minister Farrakhan. Sorry, Cain but youâ€™re un-Abel to deal on Minister Farrakhanâ€™s level. His wisdom isabove your pay grade. Step aside â€œbrotherâ€ because heâ€™s calling out Satan today, not dumb devils.

Matter of fact, Minister Farrakhan has stated that people like Hannity, Beck, Limbaugh and all of these other talking heads arenâ€™t worth his breath. With that being said, let me not waste another character in this blog on them.

Minister Farrakhanâ€™s message was a masterpiece of warning and guidance that I would invite all to watch and study.

Everyone is zeroing in on his words regarding the vicious attacks made against President Obama and his family. The Minister said this â€œavalanche of hatredâ€ is creating a dangerous climate for Pres. Obama and could lead to a situation in which he could be assassinated.

â€œNot just by the birthers and right wing zealots, but those in high placesâ€”people with great influenceâ€”have spoken against him in a manner that has never been accorded to even the worst of Americaâ€™s White presidents.â€

President Obama has been called â€œa racist, an anti-Semite, a socialist, a communist, a foreigner, an alien and a terrorist.â€

There have also been caricatures depicting the president as a witch doctor, Adolph Hitler and in Jerusalem, there was a poster showing him with an Arab kaffiyeh on his head calling him an â€œanti-Semitic Jew haterâ€¦â€

The crowd responded and moaned when the Minister read the text of the reprehensible e-mail sent by Republican Kansas Speaker of the State House Mike Oâ€™Neal in which he invoked portions of Psalm 109:8, which says in part, â€œLet his days be few; and let another take his officeâ€ and â€œMay his children be orphans and his wife a widow.â€

He touched on Americaâ€™s steady fall, prophecies in scripture, the record-setting weather patterns of 2011 that he forewarned, depopulation, economic development for Black people, Hollywood, so-called UFOs, Pres. Obamaâ€™s strained relationship with Israel, health, and raised some questions about Osama bin Laden and 9/11.

According to the same article, he said:

â€œOsama bin Laden was caught unarmed with his family around him,â€ said the Minister. â€œThey could have gotten him, secured him, taken him out of Abbottabad, Pakistan, and brought him to a place where he could have been interrogated about 9/11 and other alleged terrorist operations.â€

Until Minister Farrakhan said it this past Sunday, I did not know that Iran has never attacked another country in its modern history.

If Pres. Obama decides to go forward with a war with Iran, Minister Farrakhan said, â€œâ€¦all the young people in the Nation, you do not fight in Americaâ€™s wars against another Muslim country. We are all conscientious objectors. I advise White and Black America, Hispanic and Asian America, why would you send your children to die for war engineered by Zionists who love Israel more than they love the United States of America?â€

I thank Allah for Minister Farrakhan, a man who is unafraid to speak the truth regardless to whom or what. He boldly challenged the government to come after him.

All rituals have a principle that is to be extracted and applied, but sometimes the principles get lost, overlooked or outright ignored in the midst of us celebrating our respective “holidays” in the various religious sects. Being overly ritualistic does not make us more enlightened nor will it improve our depleted morality.

Plainly: If we’re not practicing what we’re preaching or living in accords with the essence of the rituals, then it’s all in vain; merely a feel good moment resulting in a hollow existence.

Kwanzaa is no different.

According to its founder, Dr. Maulana Karenga, Kwanzaa is an African American and Pan-African holiday which celebrates family, community and culture. Started in the midst of the Black Liberation Movement in the 1960s, Kwanzaa has since been celebrated every year from December 26 â€“ January 1.

Some people call it a “fake holiday” started by a so-called “fraud” and “criminal” individual. Yes, I’ve heard and read the criticisms for years. I’m not writing this to argue, however, I think Dr. Karenga has done and continues to do a lot of good for Black people. It’s funny how everytime someone Black attempts to do anything to promote unity among Blacks, they are labeled “racist”, “separatist”, and “divisive.”

Heck, I’ve been called this by Houston Belief readers since I started blogging for this site. (smile)

The founder notes in one of his past writings that, â€œKwanzaa is a cultural holiday, not a religious one, thus available to and practiced by Africans of all religious faiths who come together based on the rich, ancient and varied common ground of their Africanness. Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday.â€

The name Kwanzaa is said to be derived from the phrase â€œmatunda ya kwanzaâ€ which means â€œfirst fruitsâ€ in Swahili. Dating back to the times of Ancient Egypt, weâ€™re told that our ancestors held many first harvest celebrations.

Dr. Karenga had three desires when starting Kwanzaa: To reaffirm and restore our rootedness in African culture; to serve as a regular communal celebration to reaffirm and reinforce the bonds between us as a people; and to introduce and reinforce the Nguzo Saba, which means â€œThe Seven Principles or Valuesâ€ in Swahili. What’s wrong with encouraging that?

The Seven Principles of Kwanzaa are:

Umoja (Unity): To strive for and to maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Kujichagulia (Self-Determination): To define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility): To build and maintain our community together and solve our problems together.

Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics): To build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses and to profit from them together.

Nia (Purpose): To make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Kuumba (Creativity): To always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Imani (Faith): To believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

During the week-long celebration, each day is highlighted by one of the principles. If you attend a celebration in the community, you may see decorations such as a candle holder with seven candles, corn, African baskets, beautiful cloth patterns, communal cups to pour libations, and the red, black and green flag. When giving gifts during Kwanzaa, its encouraged that it includes a book. Yes, a book. Not Air Jordans or iPads.

You will be greeted by someone saying â€œHabari Gani?â€ which is Swahili for â€œWhatâ€™s The News?â€ The response would be whatever the principle of that day is.

When I first started attending Kwanzaa events back in high school, someone always expressed the importance of us practicing the Seven Principles the other 51 weeks of the year. They also stressed the importance of us not allowing the spirit and sense of family, community and culture die on the morning of January 2.

I believe these are principles we all strive for in some way no matter if weâ€™re Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Buddhists, or Non-Denominational.

Lastly, when you’re headed down the highway to a destination you come across many signs telling you that your exit is a certain amount of miles or exits away. Do you stop at the sign? No, you keep going until you get to where the sign is pointing you ultimately to, right?

If you drive down Cliffdale Street, in Missouri City, Texas, to the cul-de-sac, you will see a humble two-story home to your left. From the outside it appears to be just a normal family residence but inside itâ€™s an entirely different story.

Small bedrooms, a living room and dining area have been turned into classrooms, giving birth to some impressive accomplishments by the staff and studentsâ€”all rooted in the Teachings of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad as taught by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan.

â€œWe always focus on making sure weâ€™re in line with what the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan is teaching and do our best job to educate our students,â€ said Wakiti Muhammad, school administrator.

How did it all begin? Wakiti Muhammad and her family lost everything in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. While dealing with the emotional pain of that experience, she was very concerned about the education of her children. With so many Nation of Islam women in the area already homeschooling their children, she decided to network and unite with them in July 2006, with a school in mind.

One of those parents was Melva Muhammad, a mother of eight children. She and her husband Isaiah Muhammad owned the home and were willing to make the sacrifice to turn it into a full-fledged institutionâ€”especially since they were anti-public school.

For seven months, while waiting for the completion of their present new residence, Melva Muhammad and her family slept at night in the house on Cliffdale and woke up every morning to move mattresses to make room for classes in the day time.

â€œWe didnâ€™t have a choice. We couldnâ€™t wait to get a building. The need was so great, we were willing to make that sacrifice for the education of our children,â€ said Melva Muhammad, who has home-schooled all of her children and is also an experienced school administrator.

When deciding upon a name for the school, it was Melva Muhammad who opened to the 7th Surah of the Holy Qurâ€™an titled â€œThe Elevated Placesâ€ and the school was officially founded in 2007 with approximately 35 students.

Now accredited from pre- K to 12th grade, The Elevated Places focuses on high academic and moral standards while working in conjunction with Muhammad Universities of Islam all over the nation to fulfill the vision of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad. In addition to high academic skills, the school provides experiences that enable the students to grow socially, emotionally, and artistically.

It has grown to an enrollment of 60 students. On staff are eight full-time and three part-time instructors who work tirelessly every school year to bring out the best in their pupils. Every morning starts with prayer, an intense drill competition, and recitation of various aspects of Islam.

Students have delivered riveting performances in highly attended plays based on the legacy of the Hon. Elijah Muhammad, the Best of Broadway and Black Soul Music.

There is a Junior Achievement Club that teaches students how to build a business from ground up. The club was awarded the title of Best New Company of 2010 during an annual city wide competition.

The school partnered with the National Association of Black Engineers (NSBE) to form a Junior Chapter for their students in October 2010. Amazingly, two months later their robotics team competed at the NSBE Fall Regional Conference in New Orleans and walked away with 1st place and the math team placed 2nd.

â€œThe opportunities weâ€™re getting at the Elevated Places such as being a part of these clubs is what makes the school so great,â€ said Abdul Aziz Muhammad, 15.

Abdul Aziz Muhammad, a 10th grader, is a member of the award-winning robotics team that eventually went on to compete at the National NSBE competition in St. Louis. â€œThe teachers are a lot more caring here and it is like coming to a family environment every day,â€ he said.

Future computer engineer Aishah Muhammad, 15, has experienced the environment of attending a public school. â€œThe public school teachers really donâ€™t have the same care for you. The teachers at the Elevated Places will not only help turn your weaknesses into strengths but challenge you to make your strengths even stronger. Itâ€™s a challenging, yet comforting environment,â€ she expressed.

â€œI wouldnâ€™t want to be at any other school. Itâ€™s very nurturing. The classes help us focus on what goals we should have,â€ said Ayinde Muhammad, 13, who wants to be an electronic engineer.

This past summer, Ayinde Muhammad won the Shell Oil leadership award along with a free laptop computer at the close of a STEM camp at Texas Southern University.

School field trips have included the NASA space center, Houston City Hall, various museums and more. The school has taken frequent trips to the 40-acre farmland in Winnie, Texas owned by several members of Muhammad Mosque No. 45. The students have witnessed how raw milk is extracted from cows and why it is beneficial for good health. They have also learned how to produce butter, cheese, an aquaponic system and even deodorant.

â€œWeâ€™re instilling in them the idea of having land and producing products that our people need to survive,â€ said Wakiti Muhammad.

â€œI have to be honest that I didnâ€™t expect us to do all that we have been blessed to accomplish. But we believe in what weâ€™re taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan that weâ€™re destined for greatness. We must take our belief and go to work,â€ said Melva Muhammad, whose two eldest children teach Spanish and Tae Kwon Do classes.

The school does not receive any U.S. government funding and keeps its doors open with financial support from Muslim businesses and those who believe in independent education.

â€œWe have brothers with businesses that have donated largely to the success of the school. Even people who donâ€™t have students here have come by to donate because they have heard about the work weâ€™re doing,â€ said Wakiti Muhammad. â€œWe donâ€™t want to receive government funding because we want to keep the freedom necessary to bring about the vision of Minister Farrakhan.â€

Another important component has been the parents, who sometimes can be nonexistent in traditional schools. Parents of The Elevated Places do monthly fundraising, provide mentorship and volunteer to chaperone field trips and teach life skills classes.

â€œWe would not be where we are without the unity of the parents. They bring a lot of their resources to the table to ensure that the school has whatever it needs and can cut expenses,â€ said Wakiti Muhammad.

Brother Ishmael Muhammad, Minister Farrakhanâ€™s Assistant Student Minister at Mosque Maryam in Chicago, made a surprise appearance at the school on Nov. 10. He was so impressed with what he witnessed that he presented the staff and students to Minister Farrakhan that evening during a Believers Meeting at the mosque. Minister Farrakhan sat on stage with a huge smile as the students sung their school song.

â€œI was extremely emotional because it was a blessing to be in front of Minister Farrakhan,â€ said Asha Muhammad, 11.

â€œThat moment is still very surreal to me because that is the man weâ€™re teaching our children about that we must follow, not only in words, but in action to make his vision a reality,â€ said Wakiti Muhammad.

â€œIâ€™m extremely proud and very humbled. Allah willing, we will be doing even more at The Elevated Places for years to come,â€ said Melva Muhammad.

It looks as if America’s patience with the Occupy Wall Street movement is growing thinner by the day as police officers are being ordered to dismantle their occupy camps on all coasts.

It has been a beautiful sight to watch people taking a stand but it may be on the verge of turning completely ugly. Why? Because the American people are fed up and these young protesters don’t have ‘backing down’ in their game plan. And neither do the Mayors of these various cities. The city officials may seem like they are cooperating with this beautiful display of the peopleâ€™s constitutional right, but it may just be a mask covering the ugly disgust they have with the cause itself. This may become an all-out war.

The Occupy movement is so serious that even rapper Jay-Z came under fire for seemingly exploiting the movement by releasing his own line of “Occupy All Streets” t-shirts being sold on his Roca wear site. After the outrage, the shirts were reportedly removed from the site but magically reappeared the next day.

One of the lead organizers for Occupy Wall Street told reporters “Jay-Z, as talented as he is, has the political sensibility of a hood rat…To attempt to profit off the first important social moment of 50 years with an overpriced piece of cotton is an insult to the fight for economic civil rights known as #occupywallstreet.”

The 99% got many problems, but Jay-Z is not the biggest one.

Reportedly, hundreds of police officers, clothed in riot gear, stormed Zuccotti Park in New York in an effort to serve a final eviction notice to New York protesters. A New York Supreme Court Judge ordered that the city allow the protesters back into the park. How long will that order be upheld? New York is the birthplace of this movement that has caught fire across seas as thousands protest corporate greed, economic injustice, and other issues.

You remember the saying “What goes around, comes around”, right? I can’t help but think about how for so many years America’s leaders spoke boldly when they told so-called dictators not to “harm their own people” and that people should be given the “freedom to protest.” U.S. Presidents have called for “change” in foreign nations yet when it comes to the plight of the American people it seems to be placed on the back burner. Hypocrisy perhaps?

In the midst of the Egyptian uprising, President Obama sided with the people and his administration warned Egypt’s leaders that they should â€œnot expect those protests to go away until they respond appropriately; at issue are deep concerns over repression, poverty and corruption.” (Source)

Well, Mr. President looks like you have a similar problem on your hands, huh?

The Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad warned us for decades that the things that we see across seas would soon be at the doorstep of America. And the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has continued to deliver this same message. During an October 25 interview on Chicago’s WVON, Minister Farrakhan discussed the Occupy Wall Street movement. The following was printed in The Final Call:

Returning to the Occupy Wall Street movement, when asked by a member of the press how he would advise Pres. Obama to keep the protests over the economic crisis here in America from becoming violent, the Minister said the president will â€œprobably instruct the police to be very, very careful,â€ with the young protesters.

â€œPeople are hurting and these young people are expressing themselves. At first in New York the police were very hard on them, and this is not the best approach,â€ said the Minister warning that if the law enforcement officials grow tired of the protesters and any of them are killed, it could take them over the tipping point ushering in a violent escalation.

â€œIf it gets to the point where America gets tired of the protest of these young people and something happensâ€”like what happened at Kent State, and young Americans are killedâ€”I tell you, militias in this country that have been training for war against their own government will come out in the streets to protect these children and it’s on,â€ he said.

â€œI told you before that what you saw overseas was coming to your door! And now it is here! And it will get worse! I pray that you will tell your police to be full of restraint. But when they are not, then be careful,â€ he warned.

Will the Occupy movement turn into the Un-Occupy massacre? We shall see…

Some White people sure know how to make us Black folk feel “reaaaallllly special.”

Moments like this make us feel all warm and fuzzy like when Abraham Lincoln “freed” us and the moment we “stopped” being treated as 3/5ths of a human being. And of course my personal favorite: The day racism was no longer an issue in America once President Obama was elected. We’re all joining hands and singing “We Have Overcome.” Yeah right.

This is why the recent statements by conservative Ann Coulter did not shock me one bit. Actually it is hilarious and shows further what some Whites still think about Black people. In a recent interview on “Hannity”, she was defending Hermain Cain’s recent accusations of sexual harassment. While comparing Black Liberals with Black Conservatives, Coulter said:

â€œThatâ€™s why our blacks are so much better than their blacks,â€ Coulter said. â€œTo become a black Republican you donâ€™t just roll into it. Youâ€™re not going with the flow. You have fought against probably your family members, probably your neighbors, you have thought everything out and thatâ€™s why we have very impressive blacks in our party.â€

Our Blacks? Wow, really? Sounds kind of possessive to me. When questioned again about her words in an interview with Joy Behar, she didn’t back down at all and added:

â€œIâ€™m saying Google Maxine Waters, Cynthia McKinney and John Conyers, or Google Allen West, Michael Steele or Herman Cain. Ours are more impressive. There is no question about that.â€

Back on the plantation, the House Negro Slave was more loved by the slavemaster than the Field Negro Slave. While Hermain Cain is going around crying “high-tech lynching”, he and other “good boys” just accepted this “high-tech welp” from Coulter and others that think like her. For her to even use the word “OUR” sends a clear message that she sees Black Republicans as no more than tamed animals in the Right Wing Political Circus, with Whites as the perpetual ring leaders. “And for our next trick…”

I guess Cain and others feel right at home, not really bothered by it and just happy to have a role in the circus.

And kudos to Coulter for showing how well Whites can play the race card too. In backing up Cain ‘s “high-tech lynching” claims, Coulter said “itâ€™s coming from the exact same people who used to do the lynching with ropes, now they do it with a word processor.â€

Well, last week while I was in Austin, Texas I came across the billboard pictured below that reads “GOP is the New Black.” I think we need a billboard that says “Accepting Your Own and Being Yourself is the New Black.”

For the record, no I don’t think its better on the other side in the political world of Democrats. Neither side is working in the best interest of Black people.

(Blogger’s Note: As Rick Perry is on the Presidential campaign trail tooting his own horn about the “miracles” of Texas, I thought it was fitting to share this article by my sister, Wakiti Muhammad, who is a school administrator at The Elevated Places school in Missouri City, Texas. She eloquently sums up the state of the educational system in Texas and the entire country. Looking forward to your comments!)

In her article titled “Public Education is a Facade: The Writing is on the Blackboard”, Sister Wakiti Muhammad writes:

Itâ€™s October and students in public schools all across the nation have settled into a new school year. The new school board members have taken office and the new principal has made his presence known, but the verbiage sounds quite familiar, and the old politics seem to be lingering around. While the band plays and the homecoming queen waves, the annual budget shrinks and the class size doubles. In the midst of new classmates, new books, and all of the new standards and objectives set, there is one fact that is becoming more and more apparent. When it comes to public education, the more things change, the more they remain the same.

When pregnancy and suicide rates are competing, when teachers are too busy seducing students to educate them, and when there are more assemblies on homosexual acceptance than college preparation, our children are left suffering. In a society where 49 million of us are considered functionally illiterate, our children are ill-equipped to create a reality for themselves and are being forced into an endless pool of educated beggars, desperately seeking a plantation to belong to. They are left delusional, placing their trust in a system that has already destined them to fail.

The evidence is undisputable. Public education is a facade. It is nothing more than an indoctrination of western civilizationâ€™s belief that mastery is only reserved for a select few.

The true purpose of education has always been to mold, cultivate, and train individuals in order that they may use their gifts and abilities to maintain and further enhance the society in which they live. What is the condition of our society? How is the current educational system preparing our youth to improve the quality of life for future generations? These questions can be answered by mere observance. Recent reports conducted by the NAACP show that over 33 states have increased their prison spending budget while decreasing their annual spending for schools. California alone outspends all other states in incarceration, and yet ranks 48th in yearly education spending. This is a blatant indication of the type of destiny this government has deemed for our children. By all accounts, by all measures, the school system has failed us.

In his book Torchlight for America, The Honorable Louis Farrakhan, National Representative of the Most Honorable Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, stated, â€œIf America does not wake up and recognize the consequences of perpetuating the current system of education, then the countryâ€™s fate is sealed.â€

Undoubtedly, there have been many who have committed themselves to changing public education into the type of education that our children need and deserve. Countless educators and advocates of the past and present have given their lives and courageously fought for an equitable, purposeful education that reflects moral principles and self-sufficiency. They have stood alone and we have abandoned them, allowing them to take the full weight of a burden that rightfully belongs to us all.

It is time for us to stop allowing people who never believed we were qualified to be anything more than slaves to decide what goes in and out of our textbooks. We canâ€™t allow our children to be used as human monopoly pieces being sold off and bartered to the highest bidder. We can no longer be pacified with polite superficialities, while the creative minds of our babies our dulled to sleep. At the end of the school day, when there are no more balls left to be thrown and no more grades to be forged, all thatâ€™s left will be the writing on the blackboard. And it reads just as distinctly as a Michael Jackson lyric, â€œThey donâ€™t really care about us!â€

Public Education is a Facade: The Writing is on the Blackboard was last modified: July 23rd, 2015 by BJ Blog Staff

I know the title of this blog might seem a little radical to some but at this point do we really have a choice?

President Barack Obama’s jobs bills, or anything he proposes for that matter, is being jabbed upon, boxed out and outright opposed. The jobs bill is now on hold in the Senate. Will it pass? Probably not.

And the Demos are now planning and scrambling to break it down in to “itty bitty pieces” just to please the Republicans with more compromising deals. Will they be satisfied? Probably not. Quite frankly, nobody in the halls of Congress is afraid of Pres. Obama or even respecting him. He’s been on the offensive, speaking bold as can be but it is as if he’s talking to himself. He can’t get out of this political gridlock over deficit-reduction ideologies.

Sorry Mr. President, but the rich won’t budge on their taxes.

That’s why the “99%” is occupying the streets while the wealthy will continue to occupy and look down at the protesters from their penthouse suites. The rich could care less about poor people and they love to say “Hey, why don’t you pick yourself up by your own bootstraps like we did?” That’s laughable when we know historically that the wealth of this nation was built on the backs of can’t-see morning to can’t-see night labor by slaves. So, in truth, the rich picked up themselves by our bootstraps. You may call this racism, we call it reality.

Speaking of reality: Even if the jobs bill passes, will it create enough jobs to hire everyone that is presently unemployed? Probably not. You say “well its a start.” True, but what will others do in the meantime?

Here’s a solution: If nobody will hire you, create your own job. Hire yourself. Does that mean we should let the government off the hook? Of course not.

Why not tap into our skill sets and see how we can start our own business? People still doing it everyday successfully. Like the Honorable Elijah Muhammad has advised since the ’30s, we can pool our resources intellectually and financially to build something for ourselves and not wait on the government. The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan has continued that message and drove home the point on October 9 during his keynote address at the 16th Anniversary celebration of the Million Man March in Philadelphia. He said â€œWhat in the hell is wrong with your hands, your head, your bank account, your pocketbook, your labor that you are going to beg another man to do for you what you can get up off of your backside and do for yourself?â€

Think it can’t be done? Let me give you a few tangible examples.

Several male members of our Nation of Islam mosque here in Houston pooled their resources together to buy land in Winnie, Texas a few years ago. The name of it is Pure Farms. It has expanded to be a huge dairy farm with cows, chickens, bees, horses, etc. They are producing raw milk, eggs, honey, butter, whey protein, cheese and building hoop houses that will be able to grow food year-round. That farm has also created opportunities for those with various skills and it’s servicing the needs of the people. All of these men are entrepreneurs too.

A view of the land at Pure Farms

Cows at Pure Farms

Raw Milk at the Farm

One more example.

Ray J. Muhammad, who is under 30 years of age, recently quit his job–yes, quit–to become a full-time organic farmer. Early last year he deepened his study and took a five month Urban Harvest course at the University of Houston to become a certified organic specialist. He stepped out on faith and invested his personal income tax return into starting the now quarter acre organic farm next to Muhammad University of Islam on the grounds of Mosque No. 45.

In October 2010, Minister Farrakhan took a delegation to the headquarters of Growing Power, a three acre urban farm in Milwaukee. Minister Farrakhan was so impressed with the work being done by CEO Will Allen that he called upon every region in the NOI to send someone to take the five month training offered at Growing Power.

Bro. Ray was selected to represent the Southwest Region and successfully graduated from the training. He traveled to Milwaukee one weekend a month learning project planning, worm composting, hoop house development, aquaponics, marketing, financial planning and more. With a determination to apply what he learned at Growing Power, he has begun to build an 18 x 48 ft hoop house. It is called a hoop house because the framework includes pipes bent into semi-circles. Aquaponics is a system of sustainability that marries hydroponics (cultivating plants in water) with aquaculture (raising aquatic animals) in a symbiotic environment.

See, it can be done.

Yes, everyone’s situation is different but in unity there is nothing we can’t accomplish.

I went through anger, depression, sadness and was literally sick to my stomach. I didn’t even feel like writing or blogging about it because my head and heart was aching. I fought through it to meet my news story deadlines but this is my first full blog about it since that dreadful night a few weeks ago.

Thanks to the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, I was blessed with the opportunity to fly to Savannah, Georgia for what would be an unforgettable experience.

With so much happiness resonating within the walls of Jonesville Baptist Church, one could have easily forgotten that this was a Down South funeral, that’s usually filled with shouting, hollering, and mourning.

However, on that Saturday morning of October 1, on the west side of Savannah, it turned out to be a celebration of the life of former Georgia death row inmate No. 657378: Troy Anthony Davis.

â€œI was elated that so many people came out. My prayer is that they didn’t just come out for this one day but that they will pledge to carry on the fight that my brother asked us to do,â€ Martina Davis-Correia, Troy Davis sister, told me in a phone conversation afterwards. â€œEmotionally, as a family, we’re not down and out or depressed like people usually are when they lose someone. Troy is only gone physically but his spirit is in us and we will do his work.”

Her 17-year-old son, De’Jaun Davis-Correia, was the only family member to speak during the service for his uncle. I was so impressed with that young man’s strength. â€œWhen I reflect on the times with my uncle, it was never a dull moment. You really shouldn’t be sad all the time, you should be happy, be positive and make the best of every situation. That’s the attitude my Uncle Troy instilled in me,â€ said he said.

He further recalled how his uncle spent many hours with him on the phone assisting with homework. â€œDon’t let his name go in vain,â€ he said. I had a chance to meet him at the repass.

Ms. Davis-Correia said that moving forward the movement will be focused on clearing her brother’s name, fighting to end the death penalty and getting unjust laws changed. â€œThose who killed Troy want us to stop so they can get comfortable but we’re not going to let up on them,â€ she said.

Troy Davis was on death row for over 20 years. Family members, lawyers, prominent leaders, grassroots activists and supporters from around the world fought up until the last minute in hopes that a stay of execution would have been granted. However, on the night of Sept. 21, Mr. Davis closed his eyes for the last time on a gurney. America’s shame….

Vehicles packed Montgomery Street several hours before the start of the service, while a line of people leading to the church’s front door wrapped around the parking lot. The line was long to get into the front door.

Mr. Davis’ closed casket was flanked by two blown up images, one of him as a child and the other in a suit. Everyone received a 24-page color booklet filled with mostly images of the family’s many visits with Mr. Davis behind prison walls.

â€œTroy Davis turned the prison into a pulpit. He turned death row into a sanctuary. There’s some who think since Troy is gone that our fire is out. We are just getting started!â€ Rev. Raphael Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, said in his eulogy.

â€œLoss is but a chapter but it’s never the whole book. Hold on for the whole book. Thank you to the Davis Family for schooling us on how to live on the other side of loss,â€ said Rev. Warnock.

I really loved his sermon.

Rev. Randy Loney, who frequently visited Mr. Davis, shared words from prisoners who were locked up with him prior to his execution. â€œThey said Troy was a good man that showed them how to be a man. They said he was an inspiration and that he mentally coached others who came to death row,â€ said Rev. Loney.

Many of Mr. Davis’ family members and childhood friends told me about the man they believe has been mischaracterized by the mainstream media.

Atlanta resident Anthony Corley, a cousin, said, â€œWhat you see today and what you’ve seen the past couple of years, shows that he was a great man. He was an innocent man and everyone knows that. You got people from all over the world that this guy touched and loved him.â€

So many people spoke highly of Troy Davis.

â€œThis was a story not only about one man, Troy Davis, but about everything that is broken, unjust, and deeply wrong with the death penalty and the suffering and harm it does to all who come near it,â€ said Larry Cox, executive director ofAmnesty International. â€œWe have to do more than just talk about it and cheer. And now the state of Georgia believes it is over. We are here today to say it is far from over. You ain’t seen nothing yet!â€

During the call-and-response litany of justice read at the service, the audience said in unison, â€œWhen we say, â€˜I am Troy Davis,’ it means we profess that we, too, are foot soldiers, united in the army of justice, never retreating, but pressing on until victory is won.â€

At the conclusion of the funeral, hundreds filled the streets outside the church chanting, â€œI am Troy Davis!â€

I am much more upbeat about all of this because I see now that this wasn’t just about Troy Davis. Like he said, this is about something bigger than himself. His faith was unshaken throughout these past twenty years and he was never worried about his own life. Therefore, he will never die.

Troy Davis’ body was laid to rest, but he’s celebrated as a martyr. The fight continues.

3 days ago“Today, I want to introduce you to Jesus because you have never seen Jesus. If you saw Jesus, you would observe something that you have never seen the likes of before in a world as wicked as this one. You would have to observe Jesus. You’ll have to concentrate on Jesus. Then you would have to submit and surrender so that he could make you his Disciple. Meaning, he’s going to discipline us into something we have never experienced after 400 years living under the tyranny of White Supremacy and the filth and wickedness of those who had us in

2 days agoOn Sunday, I captured this moment while being surrounded by the heavenly presence of our M.G.T. & G.C.C. sisters at the United Center as they were receiving pre-program instructions regarding charity. #NationOfIslam#MGTGCC#Women#SD19CHI#Farrakhan

1 day agoDo you have your copy of Volume 2 of “The Teachings 2.0: The Twitter Sayings of The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan”? This volume continues the compilation series of responses Minister Farrakhan has given to thousands of questions from his social media followers. Order online at: Store.FinalCall.com • #AskFarrakhan#Farrakhan#TheTeachingsTour#SocialMedia

16 hours agoBEAUTIFUL! Very happy for our Beloved Minister! Look at that smile. #Repost@louisfarrakhan ・・・ During my Saviours’ Day address, I shared the high honor I received from Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. This means a lot to me because it's from my people, my brothers. #Farrakhan#SD19CHI